[Sign up for a .]

Hotmail has fallen far: Nearly a decade ago, it was sitting on top of the webmail heap. However, as Google ramped up Gmail, and as Yahoo also joined the fray, Hotmail seemed to lose its way during its many attempts at redesign and at least one rebranding as Windows Live.

Outlook.com is an attempt to gain that mojo back. The Metro interface makes an appearance and with it comes a much cleaner interface. The result is a 30-percent increase in the number of viewable messages, according to Microsoft. The company also is doing away with large display ads, an obvious shot at its competitors.

We realized that we needed to take a bold step, break from the past. and build you a brand new service from the ground up, Outlook team member Chris Jones wrote in the .